The plasma levels of relaxin-2 and relaxin-3 in patients with diabetes.

Abstract: Objectives: Relaxin-2 has been found to alleviate fibrosis in experimental diabetic cardiomyopathy. In addition, the levels of serum relaxin-3 were increased and correlated with all the component traits of metabolic syndrome. We investigated the levels of plasma relaxin-2 or relaxin-3 and their relationship to component traits in patients with diabetes. Design and methods: We studied 33 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes patients and 38 age-matched healthy subjects. Blood samples were taken at study entry, and relaxin-3, relaxin-2, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triglycerides, serum insulin and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels were measured. Results: Relaxin-2 levels were significantly lower in patients with diabetes than in controls: the median plasma relaxin-2 concentration was 34.68pg/mL (range, <29.00–50.81pg/mL) in patients with diabetes and 45.80pg/mL (range, <37.42–54.46pg/mL) in controls (p =0.0150). However, no differences in relaxin-3 levels were observed between the diabetes group and controls (p =0.6550). The plasma levels of relaxin-2 or relaxin-3 were not correlated with systolic blood pressure (BP), diastolic BP, total cholesterol, LDL-C, HDL-C, triglyceride, fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin and HbA1c in patients with diabetes. Additionally, there was no correlation between the plasma concentrations of relaxin-2 and relaxin-3 in patients with diabetes (rs =0.225; p =0.208). Conclusions: We conclude that the plasma levels of relaxin-2 in diabetes patients were lower than in controls, however, there are no difference in plasma relaxin-3 concentrations between controls and patients with diabetes. Relaxin-2 or relaxin-3 levels are not related to component traits in patients with diabetes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]